- Course 5: Patients receive treatment as in course 2 but supported by G-CSF. Courses 1-5 each last 3-4 weeks. Patients undergo resection of the primary tumor after course 4 or 5 unless primary resection was completed at diagnosis (which is not recommended), no primary site is found, or the primary site is unresectable. Patients complete courses 1-5 and then proceed to the first conditioning/PBSC transplantation (PBSCT) in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.